It is an open secret both in England and on the Continent that the Gunners are desperately searching for extra firepower in attack during the January transfer window in order to boost their chances of yet again qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition, the Uefa Champions League, come the summer.

And, while the Frenchman is notorious in both keeping his wallet close to his chest when it comes to bringing new players to the club, and being reluctant to spend in the month of January, on this occasion it appears as though he is willing to break the habit of a lifetime in order to land the highly-rated Argentina international.

Despite the fact that Lavezzi, 27, only arrived in the French capital from Serie A outfit Napoli last summer for a fee of 30 million euros, he has so far enjoyed an unproductive time at the Parc de Princes, only scoring his first Ligue 1 goal for PSG in December.

Meanwhile, pressure is also growing on the shoulders of the man who brought Lavezzi to PSG, head coach Carlo Ancelotti, with the club’s Qatari owners demanding an immediate showing for their multi-million pound investment

All of which means that Wenger’s Chief Scout in France from his time as AS Monaco coach has alerted the Arsenal manager to the possibility of bringing Lavezzi to the Emirates in a cut-price deal, something Wenger alluded to in his weekend press conference ahead of the visit of champions Manchester City on Sunday.

“You are under pressure always to buy in England and every problem has to be sorted out by buying people,” Wenger said.

“I can tell you something, we have no problem with people wanting to join us.

“The second thing, can we afford them? Most of them, yes. A few of them, no.

“We still work on the transfer market as well. We do not want to bring in average. We only want to bring in an exceptional player.”

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